Lever mounted switch with outer rotating cover

ABSTRACT

An electrical switch, particularly a lever stalk mounted switch, includes a body supporting a plurality of resilient contacts. A rotatable contact is selectively engageable with the resilient contacts and is mounted on a rotatable carrier. The rotatable carrier is provided with a plurality of depressions therein which are engageable by certain of the resilient contacts to constitute detent means releasably retaining the rotatable contact selectively in alternative operative positions of the switch.

United States Patent [191 Tomlinson Jan. 7, 1975 [54] LEVER MOUNTEDSWITCH WITH OUTER 3,255,319 6/1966 Paine 200/166 so ROTATING COVER3,511,943 5/l970 Kibler...

3,603,748 9/l97l Cr er 200/157 [75] Inventor: Neil Tomlinson, Burnley,England y [73] Assignee: Lucas Electric Company Limited, primaryExaminer Robert K. Schaefer Brmmgham Great Bmam AssistantExaminer-Gerald P. Tolin 22 i May 3 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hill,Gross, Simpson. Van [21] A l N 357 003 Santen, Steadman, Chiara &Simpson [30] Foreign Application Priority Data S C May 6, 1972 GreatBritain 21237/72 An electrical Switch, particularly a lever Stalkmounted switch, includes a body supporting a plurality [52] Cl gg g i ggof resilient contacts. A rotatable contact is selectively [51] I t Cl 19/06 Holh 13/08 engageable with the resilient contacts and is mounted 58200/4 6154 155 157 on a rotatable carrier. The rotatable carrier is pro-1 3 7 22 H R vided with a plurality of depressions therein which are200/153 engageable by certain of the resilient contacts to con- 16 291stitute detent means releasably retaining the rotatable 56] ReferencesCited contact selectively in alternative operative positions of theswitch. UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,238.3 l5 3/1966 Deasy 200/4 2 Claims, 3Drawing Figures LEVER MOUNTED SWITCH WITH OUTER ROTATING COVER Thisinvention relates to electrical switches, particularly but notexclusively, lever stalk mounted switches for use in motor vehicles.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical switchwhich is of compact form.

According to the present invention, there is provided an electricalswitch comprising a body, a plurality of resilient contacts carried bythe body, a rotatable contact for selective engagement with theresilient contacts upon rotation of the rotatable contact, and arotatable carrier mounting said rotatable contact, said rotatablecarrier being provided with a plurality of depressions therein forengagement by the resilient contacts for releasably retaining therotatable contact in positions in which it is engaged with selectedresilient contacts.

Preferably, the carrier is mounted for rotation with a rotatable casingsurrounding the resilient contacts and rotatable relative thereto.

Preferably also, the body of the switch is secured to a lever stalk andthe casing also surrounds the body.

Most advantageously, each resilient contact extends in a direction whichis substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the lever stalk, theresilient contacts being angularly spaced apart around said axis.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an electrical switchaccording to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a cross-section on the line 22 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a cross-section on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

The electrical switch which is for mounting on the steering column of amotor vehicle, comprises an electrically insulating body 5 mounted onthe end of a hollow conductive lever stalk 6 containing four leads 7(only two shown) to the electrical switch. The switch also includes arotatable, electrically insulating casing 8 which surrounds the body 5and is rotatable relative thereto about the axis of the lever stalk 6.The casing 8 is, furthermore, slidable axially relative to the body 5and lever stalk 6.

The body 5 has recesses 9 therein within which are mounted fiveresilient contacts 10, ll, l2, l3 and 14 (see especially FIGS. 2 and 3).The resilient contacts 10, ll, l2, l3 and 14 each extend in a directionwhich is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the leverstalk 6. As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the contacts 10, ll, l2, l3and 14 are angularly spaced about the longitudinal axis of the leverstalk 6. The end of the casing 8 remote from the lever stalk 6 isconstituted by a snap-fit cap 15 which has a contact carrier 16integrally moulded therewith and extending into the casing 8 co-axiallywith respect to the lever stalk 6. Thus, the contact carrier 16 isrotatable with the casing 8. Disposed in a recess 17 in the contactcarrier 16 is a generally U-shaped contact 18 forming a rotatablecontact of the switch. The U-shaped contact 18 has one arm which extendsflush with the outer surface of the rotatable contact carrier 16 forselective engagement with the resilient contacts 10, ll, 12 and 13, aswill be described hereinafter.

The contacts 10 to 13 are electrically connected to respective leads 7and the electrical connection to the contact 14 is made by way of thestalk 6 and an extended portion of the contact 14 which engages thestalk 6.

The outer surface of the contact carrier 16 is provided with a series ofdepressions 19 which extend parallel to the axis of rotation of therotatable contact carrier 16 and are spaced angularly of the latter. Acontact plate 20 is disposed within the casing 8 and is urged intoabutment with the contact carrier 16 by means of a spring 21 which islodged between the contact plate 20 and the body 5. This return spring21 also urges the casing 8 into a position in which a shoulder 22 on thecasing abuts against one end 23 of the body 5. Flexible contacts 10 and14 are provided with integral interned contact lugs 24 and 25respectively.

In use, the casing 8 can be rotated relative to the body 5 thus causingthe contact carrier 16 and rotatable contact 18 to be rotated relativeto the flexible contacts 10, ll, 12, 13 and 14 which are urged againstthe contact carrier 16 by reason of their inherent flexibility. It willbe appreciated that rotation of the casing 8 causes the rotatablecontact 18 to bridge between selected contacts 10, ll, 12 and 13, forexample, in the position shown in FIG. 3, the rotatable contact 18bridges contact 10 and contact 11. Furthermore, in the position shown inFIG. 3, contacts l2, l3 and 14 are resiliently engaged in three of thedepressions 19 in the contact carrier 16 and thus serve to retainreleasably the contact carrier 16 in the position shown. It will bemanifest that rotation of the rotatable contact carrier 16, for exampleto bridge contacts 10 and 12, will cause contacts 11, 13 and 14 to belodged in other depressions 19 in the surface of the contact carrier 16.Thus, the contact carrier 16 is retained in another of its positions bythe flexible contacts ll, 13 and 14.

When the casing 8 is manually urged to the right as shown in FIG. 1relative to the body 5 and against the action of the spring 21, thecontact plate 20 is brought into contact with the contact lugs 24 and 25on the contacts 10 and 14 respectively, thereby bridging the latter andserving to complete another switching circuit. Upon release of thecasing 8, the spring 21 urges the casing 8 to the left in FIG. 1 therebybreaking the connection between contact lugs 24 and 25. It will bemanifest that the arm of the U-shaped rotatable contact 18 which lies onthe outside of the contact carrier 16 is extended in a directionparallel to the sliding axis of the casing 8 so that the rotatablecontact 18 can continue to bridge two of the flexible contacts when thecasing 8 is manually depressed.

In the present embodiment, the electrical switch is intended for use inthe control of a motor vehicle windscreen wiper and screen washerassembly and contact 10 serves as a feed contact, contact 11 is arrangedin a fast speed circuit for the windscreen wiper motor. Contact 12 isconnected in a slow speed circuit for the wiper motor whilst contact 13is connected into the limit switch circuit of the wiper motor wherebythe wipers can be parked off the windscreen. The contact 14 is connectedinto a screen washer circuit.

In a further embodiment (not shown), the electrical switch is employedfor controlling side lights, headlights and a horn of a motor vehicle.In this embodiment, contact 11 is omitted, contact 14 is shortened sothat it no longer extends to a position in which it engages the leverstalk 6 and instead is connected to respective lead 7. Contact 10remains the feed contact, contact 12 is arranged inthe side lightscircuit, contact 13 is arranged in the head lights circuit and contact14 is arranged in the horn circuit. The rotatable contact 18 is extendedfurther around the carrier 16 so that it can bridge feed contact 10,sidelights contact 12 and headlights contact 13 whereby the sidelightsremain lit when the headlights are lit upon rotation of the casing 8.Axial movement of the casing against the action of spring 21 causes thehorn to be operated.

In a modification of either switch described above the cap 15 andcontact carrier 16 are formed as separate parts and are secured togetherduring manufacture in any convenient manner. This modification affordsthe possibility of producing simply and cheaply switches having the samecontact carrier arrangement but different external cap 15 to suit thestyling requirements of different applications, switches which areexternally similar but having different contact arrangements, andcombinations of both features.

It is considered that any of the electrical switches as described abovecan be made of compact shape due to the fact that a separate detentmechanism is not provided for retaining the switch in its variousoperating positions, the detent mechanism being provided by the flexiblefixed contacts and the depressions in the contact carrier.

I claim:

1. An actuating lever mounted electrical switch comprising an actuatinglever, a body, means mounting said body on said actuating lever at oneend thereof, a plurality of non-rotatable resilient contact elementscarried by the body, and extending generally parallel to and spacedaround an axis coextensive with the longitudinal axis of the actuatinglever, a rotatable electric contact, means mounting said rotatableelectric contact for rotation about said axis coextensive with saidlongitudinal axis, said rotatable electric contact being selectivelyengageable with said non-rotatable contact elements upon rotation ofsaid rotatable contact, and, said means mounting said rotatable contactincluding a rotatable contact carrier, said rotatable contact carrierbeing provided with a plurality of depressions therein and saiddepressions being in releasable engagement with said resilientnon-rotatable contact elements whereby said rotatable contact can beretained in selected positions relative to said body in engagement withselected fixed contacts, means mounting said carrier for rotationcomprising a rotatable casing surrounding said non-rotatable resilientcontact elements and said rotatable contacts, and mounted on said leverfor rotation relative to said nonrotatable resilient contact elements.

2. An actuating lever mounted electrical switch as claimed in claim 1wherein said casing also surrounds said body.

1. An actuating lever mounted electrical switch comprising an actuatinglever, a body, means mounting said body on said actuating lever at oneend thereof, a plurality of non-rotatable resilient contact elementscarried by the body, and extending generally parallel to and spacedaround an axis coextensive with the longitudinal axis of the actuatinglever, a rotatable electric contact, means mounting said rotatableelectric contact for rotation about said axis coextensive with saidlongitudinal axis, said rotatable electric contact being selectivelyengageable with said non-rotatable contact elements upon rotation ofsaid rotatable contact, and, said means mounting said rotatable contactincluding a rotatable contact carrier, said rotatable contact carrierbeing provided with a plurality of depressions therein and saiddepressions being in releasable engagement with said resilientnon-rotatable contact elements whereby said rotatable contact can beretained in selected positions relative to said body in engagement withselected fixed contacts, means mounting said carrier for rotationcomprising a rotatable casing surrounding said non-rotatable resilientcontact elements and said rotatable contacts, and mounted on said leverfor rotation relative to said non-rotatable resilient contact elements.2. An actuating lever mounted electrical switch as claimed in claim 1wherein said casing also surrounds said body.